The area of the square is 82 D 64, whereas the rectangle, which seems to have the same
constituent parts, has an area 5 Ð 13 D 65, and so the area has apparently been increased
by one square unit. The puzzle is easy to explain. The points a, b, c, and d do not all lie
on the diagonal of the rectangle, but instead are the vertices of a parallelogram whose
area is exactly equal to the extra unit of area.
The construction can be carried out with any square whose sides are equal to the
Fibonacci number F2k. When the square is partitioned as in the diagram, the pieces can be
re-formed to produce a rectangle having a slot in the shape of a slim parallelogram (our gure is exaggerated). The identity F2k1F2kC1 1 D F2
2k can be interpreted as asserting
that the area of the rectangle minus the area of the parallelogram is precisely equal to the
area of the original square. It can be shown that the height of the parallelogram—that is, the width of the slot at its widest point—is
When F2k is reasonably large (say, F2k D 144, so that F2k2 D 55), the slot is so narrow
as to be almost imperceptible to the eye.
This is a convenient place to examine a remarkable connection between the Fibonacci
numbers and what the Greeks called the golden ratio. We start by forming the sequence of the ratios of consecutive Fibonacci numbers. The rst few terms are As the index increases, the sequence seems to tend to a number that falls between 1.61
and 1.62. Let us assume that the limiting value actually exists; call it Þ. For any n ½ 1,
we have which by virtue of our de nition of the un’s, can be replaced by As n increases, the left- and right-hand sides of the foregoing equation are getting closer
and closer to Þ and 1C1=Þ, respectively, so that the equation as a whole is approaching But the only positive root of this quadratic equation is the so-called golden ratio. Thus, the sequence of the ratios of consecutive Fibonacci
numbers gives an approximation of the golden ratio, and the further out we go, the better
the approximation becomes.
The area of the square is 82 D 64, whereas the rectangle, which seems to have the same
constituent parts, has an area 5 Ð 13 D 65, and so the area has apparently been increased
by one square unit. The puzzle is easy to explain. The points a, b, c, and d do not all lie
on the diagonal of the rectangle, but instead are the vertices of a parallelogram whose
area is exactly equal to the extra unit of area.
The construction can be carried out with any square whose sides are equal to the
Fibonacci number F2k. When the square is partitioned as in the diagram, the pieces can be
re-formed to produce a rectangle having a slot in the shape of a slim parallelogram (our gure is exaggerated). The identity F2k1F2kC1 1 D F2
2k can be interpreted as asserting
that the area of the rectangle minus the area of the parallelogram is precisely equal to the
area of the original square. It can be shown that the height of the parallelogram—that is, the width of the slot at its widest point—is
When F2k is reasonably large (say, F2k D 144, so that F2k2 D 55), the slot is so narrow
as to be almost imperceptible to the eye.
This is a convenient place to examine a remarkable connection between the Fibonacci
numbers and what the Greeks called the golden ratio. We start by forming the sequence of the ratios of consecutive Fibonacci numbers. The rst few terms are As the index increases, the sequence seems to tend to a number that falls between 1.61
and 1.62. Let us assume that the limiting value actually exists; call it Þ. For any n ½ 1,
we have which by virtue of our de nition of the un’s, can be replaced by As n increases, the left- and right-hand sides of the foregoing equation are getting closer
and closer to Þ and 1C1=Þ, respectively, so that the equation as a whole is approaching But the only positive root of this quadratic equation is the so-called golden ratio. Thus, the sequence of the ratios of consecutive Fibonacci
numbers gives an approximation of the golden ratio, and the further out we go, the better
the approximation becomes.
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